Greetings!

My 83 y.o. father (in good health) and I have booked a last minute cruise to Alaska. We are travelling southbound from Seward to Vancouver, with stops in Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan. I am totally overwhelmed by the sheer number of shore excursions offered, and am having difficulty narrowing my choices. Additionally, I don't know whether to book through HAL or another provider, and whether to book in advance or play it by ear.

I'd love to hear of your experience; excursions you enjoyed, excursions you didn't enjoy; when and how you booked them, etc.

Thanks.

Its like this. As the excursions are many and varied what we did was pick the one that appealed to us the most. We did that and there were no regrets.

I did ry to book at first privately but it seems that the cruise lines buy them up and sell them at a profit so if you can get one privately then go for it. However do realize that you are on the hook if say you are delayed going into port or if that port is cancelled or some reason whereas you are covered if you book thru the ship in that event.

Hey ire,

Good advice above.

If this is your first visit, it won't matter whether you go watch a whale or walk on a glacier.

In addition, the field is very competitive. You are not likely to be ripped off.

Re going with the cruise line or private, you can check prices at the websites.

An advantage of going with the cruise line is that you know they won't leave without you.

In addition, if things go bad, you can complain to the cruise line rather than to some PO box several thousand miles away.

We shall be taking the Oosterdam NB in a couple of weeks.

We have the following planned:
Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens, Juneau through HAL

Enjoy your visit.

How funny Ira! We were almost on the same cruise! Enjoy yours.

Hi, Iregeo! I print out the list of tours by port, and narrow them down.

First, is your father strong and healthy? The tours have a degree of difficulty, so take off the strenuous.

Will your father be OK with longer tours, or needs only 1/2 day tours?

Are you early birds? Some tours start early, some even in the afternoon. See what time is more convenient for you.

Happy travels!

SO good to see you, Dayenu!

The advice from jacketwatch is spot on. We book all our excursions always through the cruiseline. We book what appeals to us, and as jacketwatch stated, have no regrets. Have a wonderful time with your dad.